Simple Flour Tortilla

This is recipe from King Arthur flour. It yields 8 tortillas.

Ingredients

All-Purpose Flour - 2 and 1/2 cups, plus additional as needed
Baking powder - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Lard - 1/4 cup, or use butter, shortening (I used Ghee)

Hot tap water (about 110°F to 120°F) - 3/4 to 1 cup

Steps

1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Add the lard. Use your fingers or a pastry blender to work the fat into the flour until it disappears.
3. Pour in the lesser amount of hot water, and stir briskly with a fork or whisk to bring the dough together into a shaggy mass. Stir in additional water as needed to bring the dough together.
4. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and knead briefly, just until the dough forms a ball. If the dough is very sticky, gradually add a bit more flour.

5. Divide the dough into 8 pieces. Round the pieces into balls, flatten slightly, and allow them to rest, covered, for about 30 minutes.
6. While the dough rests, preheat an ungreased cast iron griddle or skillet over medium high heat, about 400°F.
7. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll into a round about 8" in diameter. Keep the remaining dough covered while you work.

8. Fry the tortilla in the ungreased pan for about 30 seconds on each side. Wrap the tortilla in a clean cloth when it comes off the griddle, to keep it pliable. Repeat with the remaining dough balls.

If there are leftovers, allow them to cool completely, then wrap tightly in plastic and store in the refrigerator. Reheat in an ungreased skillet, or for a few seconds in the microwave.

Creamy Spinach Stuffed Salmon

This is a simple recipe from @everylastbite Instagram. I modified it to be egg-free.

Ingredients

Salmon fillets - 4 large pieces
【Filling】
Mayonnaise - 1/4 cup(replaced with 1/4 cup yogurt and 1/4 mashed avocado for egg free)
Spinach - 3 packed cups, raw
Garlic - 1 clove, crushed, chopped
Chili flakes - pinch
【Seasoning】
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Black pepper - 1/4 tsp
Olive oil - 1/2 TBSP
Ghee/butter - 1 and 1/2 TBSP
Shallots - 2, finely diced
Garlic - 2 cloves, crushed
Lemon juice - 1 TBSP
Lemon wedges - for garnish

Steps

1. Carefully cut a pocket in each fillet, not go more than 3/4 the way through.
2. Add spinach to a large skillet with a splash of water and cook for a minute until the spinach has wilted. Place cooked spinach on paper towel to remove excess water. Chop the cooked spinach.
3. In a bowl stir together the mayonnaise, garlic, spinach and chili flakes. Spoon the mixture to stuff the salmon fillets.

4. Season the salmon with salt and pepper.
5. Heat the olive oil and 1/2 TBSP of ghee in a non-stick skillet on medium high heat, place the salmon fillets in and leave them to cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden. Gently flip and cook another 3 minutes on the other side. Transfer cooked salmon to a plate.
6. Add the remaining 1 TBSP of ghee to the pan along with shallots and garlic, cook for a few minutes until the shallots soften. Reduce the heat to medium low and stir in lemon juice. Return the fillets to the pan and leave them to cook for another 2-3 minutes.

7. Before serving spoon the sauce over the fillets and garnish with parsley and slices of lemon.

Glutinous Rice Siu Mai(糯米烧卖)

Siu Mai is like Chinese dumplings, you can put all kind of ingredients in it. I used what I had, but you can also put in fresh bamboo shoot, dried mushroom, Chinese sausage, corn, green peas, etc.

Ingredients

【Filling】
Glutinous Rice - 3 cup, soak in water overnight

Pork - 1 lb, diced

Baby Bella mushroom - 10+, diced

Carrot - 1 stick, diced

Dried black wood ears - 10+, soften by soaking in water, then chopped

Onion - half, chopped
Dried Tofu - 2 squares, diced
Soy sauce - 6 TBSP, or to taste
Oyster sauce - 2 TBSP, or to taste
Cooking wine - 1 TBSP
Sugar - 1 TBSP
Oil - 2 TBSP
Salt - to taste
White pepper - to taste

【Wrapper】

All purpose flour - 4 cups

Warm water - 1 and 1/4 cups

Steps

1. Prepare the ingredients.

 

2. In a large frying pan, first add oil and onion to stir fry until onion is fragrant; then add meat and cooking wine;  finally add carrot and other ingredients to stir fry until fully cooked.

3. Add the drained glutinous rice, when the rice is half cooked, add all the seasoning.

4. Put the rice mixture over cheese cloth on a steamer, poke a few holes. then steam high for 25-30 minutes.

5. When the rice is a bit cool down, divide and roll them into rice balls, about 50g each.

6. Put flour and warm water in a mixer with dough hook, make into a smooth dough. Cover and let it rest for half a hour.

7. Divide the dough into small portions, about 17g each. Roll out each wrapper to about 4.5" diameter round, make sure the skirt is thinner than the center.

8. Wrap the Siu Mai into a vase shape. Steam high for 5 minutes and serve hot.

Note: Uncooked Siu Mai can be stored in Ziploc in freezer. When ready to consume, do not defrost, just steam high for 10 minutes.  

Roasted Asparagus & Cheese

A quick and easy recipe from Costco website.

Ingredients

Asparagus - 1 lb, stems trimmed
Olive oil - 3 TBSP
Garlic cloves - 4 (doubled that for garlic lover), peeled and minced
Salt - 1 tsp
Black pepper - ½ tsp
Parmesan cheese - ¾ cup
panko breadcrumbs - 1 cup
Unsalted butter - 4 TBSP, melted
Mozzarella cheese - 1¼ cup, shredded

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Arrange asparagus on a greased baking sheet.
3. In a small bowl, combine olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Drizzle over asparagus. Toss to evenly coat.

4. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until asparagus is vibrant green and starting to get tender.

5. Mix Parmesan, breadcrumbs and butter. Remove asparagus from the oven. Top with mozzarella and breadcrumb mixture.

6. Return to the oven. Broil for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the cheese melts and the breadcrumbs become golden brown. Serve immediately.

Matcha Pound Cake

I liked the Matcha pound cake from Starbucks Japan. So when I saw this recipe,  I was happy to try. The loaf was baked just right with crust outside and soft center. This is pound cake, Japanese style, which means is it not very sweet and buttery.

Ingredients

Eggs - 4

Cream of tartar - 1/4 tsp (optional, I did not use)

Sugar - 1/4 + 1/2 cup

Butter - 10 TBSP, at room temperature
Whole milk - 3 TBSP

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
All purpose flour - 1 C + 2 T
Cornstarch - 2 TBSP

Matcha powder - 1 TBSP

Baking powder - 3/4 tsp

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a 8 x 4″ loaf pan with parchment paper.
2. Use a stand mixer with whisk attachment to beat egg whites until foamy. Add in the cream of tartar and keep beating. Gradually add in the 1/4 cup of sugar and whip until stiff peaks. Transfer whipped egg whites to a large clean bowl. Set aside.
3. In the same mixing bowl, change to paddle attachment to cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Gradually add in the egg yolks one by one, and then add the milk and vanilla extract. Mix until combined.

4. Remove the mixing bowl and sift in about 1/3 the dry ingredients (flour, cornstarch, matcha, and baking powder) and alternate with 1/3 the egg white mixture, repeating until everything is combined together.

5. Transfer the cake batter to the lined loaf pan. Carefully bang the pan to release any trapped air bubbles.

6. Bake for 60-65 mins, until golden brown on top, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool completely before slicing.

Note: Sliced cake can be individually wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 2 months. Just remove from the freezer about 15-20 minutes and leave at room temperature before serving.

Yaki Onigiri (Grilled Rice Ball)

Onigiri is made of white rice formed into triangular or oval shapes. It can have traditional filling, such as Japanese pickled plum, salted salmon, spicy roe, or un-traditional things like Salame, seaweed flakes, Spam. They can also be made without filling. On the outside, they are often wrapped in the dried nori seaweed.

Traditionally, Yaki Onigiri is grilled over charcoal. To make Yaki Onigiri at home, I use a cast iron pan to grill the rice balls until all sides are crispy and lightly browned. 

Hand Towel Wagashi (茶巾絞り)

Those wagashi traditionally was made with hand towels. Now people mostly use paper towel or plastic wrap. The pastry is made using purple yam paste with red bean filling.